Want to break into politics like Kinky Friedman? Get a website.

Lately I’ve had a change of pace when it comes to the style of my reading material. Life has been getting a little bit too hectic, so I’ve gone on a 90 degree tangent from my normal Classic and New-Age Fiction reading to escape my everyday reality. I’ve been reading several really funny detective novels from an author by the name of Kinky Friedman. I thought I’d do some searching on the Internet to find out more about the guy (I actually was checking to see if he was still alive, as the last I’d heard he was writing a novel called ‘Stepping on a Rainbow” which is one of the terms he often uses to describe someone dying, which I thought could be an omen.). Well it seems he’s alive and well, so well it seems that he’s got himself a website dedicated to his imminent candidacy for the job of Texas Governor in the USA. Thinking of running for politics? Check out Kinky’s new website at http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/ and you might just get a few ideas of how to construct your online approach to make it a winning one.

Kinky Friedman’s off-the-wall humour is what has made him both a famous country musician as well as detective novelist. His political slogans aren’t too far off from his usual witty (and politically incorrect) style which is what might just make him a winner. He’s even got a link on his site selling ‘Politically Correct Salsa Dip’ (http://www.kinkysprivatestock.com/). With this type of approach you’d think that he’s probably not rubbing everyone the right way (you’d be correct in that assumption, he’s never been afraid to step on toes), but he’s a good guy at heart. The proceeds from the salsa sales go to a ranch he’s set up that helps injured animals.

Kinky’s electoral site has definitely had a lot of thought put into it. There are heaps of ‘kinks’ (I mean links) to numerous pages informing visitors of anything and everything to do with Kinky and his campaign. Under the ‘Multimedia’ link there are sections for Photos, Audio/Video, blog, and News. Under the Photos link there are several whole photo albums from different places and stages of electoral journeys. You may think that this would be pretty bland stuff but come across the controversial fact that Kinky was caught drinking an open Guinness beer in the St.Patrick’s day march (wearing a bright green cowboy jacket) which is against the law in Texas (the open beer, not the jacket) and you’ll see that this guy isn’t afraid of criticism. When interrogated by news people he replied, “I was drinking it…but I did not swallow.’ (You’d better get that one folks).

The audio/video link had some really cool cartoons called ‘Kinkytoons’ which advertise his political goals, as well as live interviews on TV, and commercials for his new talking action figure (it supposedly rips out the one-liners as good as the man himself). There are also audio excerpts (like Podcasts) from live radio interviews that you can download as MP3 files. There’s even a message from famous country singer Willie Nelson stating his support for the unlikely statesman.

Under the News heading are links to all of the News articles related to his running, while the blog looks at experiences from a more personal angle, as it’s written by someone on his electoral team. Both have archives that go back to the beginning of the electoral dream started over a year ago which adds a lot more credibility for the site visitor.  The blog also uses photos to give more life and reality to the information so that it isn’t just pages and pages of text. This is the key people. If this man really wants to attract a dedicated following he must first have a strong foundation of political beliefs and ideas for change. But, he also has to relay that vital message in a way that is interesting to viewers. When it comes to websites, this also means an easy-to-navigate page-link system, as well as bright colours, photos, audio and visual aids.

As Kinky is running as an Independent and not as part of one of the two major parties he has a downloadable petition that he needs people to sign and send in so that he’s eligible to actually run. He also has a link to a ‘Volunteer’ section so that proactive citizens who want to climb aboard his campaign chuck-wagon can choose from a long list of helpful activities ranging from making phone calls, to hosting a party, or even donating furniture or office space to the cause. Showing his growing faith (and the rest of humanity’s) in the Internet’s power to change, he also implores people to write about him on their own blogs.

His site has a Store section where political slogan-covered T-shirts, hats, posters, bumper stickers, coffee mugs, flags, buttons, and of course that talking action figure are for sale. When you purchase a product the site explains that your money will go towards the campaign, the T-shirt becoming a ‘thank you’ for your kind support. One of the T-shirts says, ‘No teacher is left behind’ which is a play on the old government-initiated ‘No student left behind’ program. This is because teachers in Texas are paid less than in any of the other fifty US states, even though Texas has the 8th highest grossing economy in the world (more than most countries). Education is one of Kinky’s main policies as Texas subsequently has the highest school drop-out rate in the country. His idea is that if you want the kids to be interested in learning, show the teachers that what they’re doing is important to society by appreciating their skills. A happy teacher makes a happy class, and inspires a happy person to willingly fight to educate the humans of tomorrow.

The soon to be Governor (I hope) also has a shirt with the slogan, ‘May the God of your choice bless you.’ This guy’s a real character. So, if you’ve got a little personality and want to change the world by getting into public office, take a page from Kinky’s book. Get a website, put up your goals, plans, and ideas. Then do everything possible to inform the public about the goings-on in your life. Make it colourful, make it interactive, fun, informative, and varied in the media you use to connect with your site visitors. You never know, by simply having good campaign goals, a communicative website, and utilising all means to relate to others, soon you may be the President of Djibouti, or more realistically, the President of your local city council.